Well measuring



K. BOLTON ET AL,

WELL MEASURING Filed/Jan. '7, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l l INVENTOR. KewnehBolton By John E. Wi lef @ct 4, 1938. y' K. BOLTON ET AL 131,88

WELL MEASURING Filed Jan. '7, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

. Kenneth Bolton.

By -JO7n Weiler.

' Patented Oct. 4, 1938 PATENT; OFFICEy WELL MEAsUaiNG Kenneth Bolton,Pittsburgh, Pa., and John'E.

Weiler, Duncan, Okla., assignors to Halliburton Oil Well CementingCompany, Duncan,

Okla.

Application January 7, 1938, Serial No. 183,758

8 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for measuring the depthoi.' oilwells or the like and more particularly to apparatus for automaticallycontrolling the unreeling of a measuring line from a drum in response tomovement of the line into an oil well.

Apparatus for measuring the depth of awell or for determining theposition of an object moving in an oil well is well known. An example ofapparatus suitable for this purpose is found in the United States patentto Halliburton 1,692,037 granted November 20, 1928, for Well soundingdevice. f

It is a particular object of the present invention to deviseimprovements in apparatus of the type referred to in the above-mentionedpatent and in which movement of the line into the well will beautomatically controlled or governed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide automatic means formeasuring the movement of a plug or other object traveling downwardlyinto an oil-well, which plug may be for example of the type used in thecementing of oil wells, as shown and described in United States 25patent to Halliburton 1,369,891, granted March 1, 1928, for Method andmeans for cementing oil wells.

It is still another object of the invention to provide automatic meansfor controlling the unreeling of a flexible member from a reel or drumupon which it is wound.

Other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of thearrangement andconstruction of parts as will be more apparent from 35 aconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

'Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic representation of an oil wellhaving apparatus con 40 structed in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention associated therewith, a portion of the well being shown incross-section; f Figure 2 is a plan view, partly cut away, of the reeland control means shown ln Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic representation of an oil well withanother embodiment of the invention shown in connection therewith, aportion of the well being shown in cross-section;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the reel and control means employed inthearrangement of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of 55 the apparatus shown inFigures 3 and 4, part of the apparatus being cut away to show theinternal construction.

In cementing an oil well it is common practice to keep track of themovement of a plug which follows a quantity of iiuid cement as it isbeing pumped into the well, apparatus for this purpose consisting of ameasuring line having a weight connected to its lower end and whichweight follows the plug. The line is spooled upon a reel and controlledby a hand-operated brake. The operator releases the brake to permit theline and weight to move until the weight strikes the plug, this beingdetermined by feeling of the line. Such measuring apparatus has goneinto extensive commercial use. However, the operating of the line istedious and not always accurate, especially in very deep wells, or wherethe wells are not straight.

In accordance with the present invention it is proposed to provideapparatus which will enable the operator to determine the position of aceinenting plug without feeling of the line and without manuallycontrolling the brake on the reel. Although the apparatus is thusprimarily designed for use in connection with the cementing of an oilwell, lt will be obvious to those skilled in the art that thearrangement may be used for purposes other than cementing operations andwherever it is desirable to measure the position of an object in a Wellor to determine the depth of a well.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first to the embodiment of theinvention shown in Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that an oil well isthere illustrated as consisting of a bore hole II provided with a casingI2 which for purpose of illustrating the invention may be regarded asabout to be cemented in the well. Within the casing I2 is located acementing plug I3 which may consist of a wooden body provided with arubber cup I4 at its upper end. The plug I3 diiers from those commonlyemployed heretofore in that it is provided with means for latching it toa measuring line I5 which extends upwardly through the casing I2 and outthrough a stuffing box I6 on the casing head I1.

The latching means referred to above may consist of a. pair of membersI8 pivoted to each other at the top, and connected to the measuringreceiving member 20 which may consist merely 0f a cylindrical memberhaving an inwardly extending flange adapted to overlie the laterallyprojecting portions of the latch members I 9.

Located within the casing head, and held by means of a manually operablepin 2l, is a godevil 22, this member having the measuring line threadedtherethrough. When -it is desired to release the measuring line from theplug I3 the pin 2l may be pulled, allowing the go-devil 22 to traveldownwardly and strike the latch members I8. The lower portion of thego-devil 22 is provided with la conical recess 23 so as to enable it toreadily collapse the latch members I8 and release the same from the plugupon the go-devil striking these members.

The upper end of the casing. I2 beneath the casing head I1 is shownprovided with a laterally extending pipe 24 through which mud or otherfiuid may be pumped in forcing the body of iluid cement upon which theplug I3 is presumed to rest downwardly into the well. It will readily beseen that as long as the latch members I8 are connected to the plug I3,movement of the plug downwardly will pull the measuring line I5 with itinto the well.

The casing head I1, in addition to being provided with a stuiling box I6mentioned above, is provided with a stall 25 on which a pulley 26 ismounted, the measuring line I5 extending over this pulley and from thereto a reel 21 which has associated with it a measuring device and anautomatic brake, which will now be, described.

The reel 21 may be mounted on a suitable means, such as the post 28, bymeans of a shaft 29. In order to determine how much line has been fedinto the well, a measuring device is provided. This device per se may beidentical with that shown and described in the Halliburton Patent1,692,037 mentioned above. It consists of a measuring wheel 30 aroundwhich the measuring line passes, the wheel 30 being supported onsuitable arms 3| which are maintained in an approximate balance by meansof the weight 32. Between the measuring wheel 30 and the reel 21, abrake control pulley 33 is provided, this pulley being mounted upon ashaft 34 in such a way that it can travel back and forth in front ofthe.

reel in parallel to the axis thereto as the line on the reel is spooledor unspooled. The shaft 34 is carried by two lever arms 35, one on eachside of the reel, as shown in Figure 2. These lever arms are pivotallymounted upon the shaft 29 and are connected by means of links 36 tobrake bands 31 adapted to cooperate with a brake drum 38 integral withthe anges on the reel. The lever arms 35 may be biased in such adirection as to normally cause the setting of the brakes by means of aweight or spring. In the arrangement illustrated, a weight 39, togetherwith associated link and lever mechanism, is shown for this purpose. Theweight 39 may be adjustably mounted upon Va lever 40, one end oi whichis connected to` a=`flxed fulcrum 4I. N ear the fulcrum the lever 40 isconnected by a link 42 to a bar 43 integral with the lever arms 35. Thelever mechanism 39 may exert such a bias upon the lever arms 35 as toprevent releasing of the brakes until a predetermined tension is placedupon the line. For example, if the entire measuring line suspended inthe oil well would exert a tension, in addition to its own weight, atthe well head, oi around 300 pounds, the weight 39 may be so adjusted asto prevent unwinding of the line from the reel until more than 300pounds lifting force is exerted on the pulley 33. Thus, the arrangementmay be so adjusted that the line will never unreel due to its own weightbut can be moved only in response to movement of the cementing plug I3or other device to which the line may be connected, such as would resultwhen fluid is being pumped into the well above such a plug.

It is to be noted that the brake arrangement is such that when theinitial tension referred to above, say 300 pounds, is overcome, anyfurther increase in tension acts to release the brakes further andenable the reel to revolve faster and the line to be unwound at agreater speed. On the other hand, the minute that the tension islowered, the brakes tend to set and prevent further unreeling of theline. In this way the operation of the line is rendered wholly automaticand no particular attention by the operator need be paid thereto.

It is within the purview of the invention to carry out the principlesillustrated in Figures 1 and 2 in a variety of ways. One additional wayis by means of the apparatus illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5.Referring to these figures in detail, and first to Figure 3, it will beseen that a well identical with that illustrated in Figure l is thereshown and the parts which correspond to the arrangement of Figure 1 havebeen similarly designated.

The main difference in the apparatus of Figures 3, 4 and 5 from that ofFigures 1 and 2 involves the particular mechanism for controlling theoperation of the reel upon which the measuring line I 5 is wound. InFigures 3, 4 and 5 the reel is designated 4 4. It is mounted upon ashaft 45 which may be controlled by a brake operated by means of thehand lever 46, if desired. In addition to the hand-operated brake, ahydraulic brake is associated with the reel 44. The hydraulic brake maybe of a known form and comprising a small gear pump 41, the gears 48 inwhich are caused to rotate by being connected through a suitable geartrain to a gear wheel 49 integral with the reel. These featuresparticularly are shown in detail in Figure 5.

'I'he gear pump 48 is connected by means of suitable conduits 50 to abalanced control valve the housing of which is shown at 5I. The gearpump 41, the conduits 5U and the housing 5I for the control valve may beillled with oil or other fluid so that when the gears in the pump arerotated oil will be caused to iiow in a circuit through the conduits 50and the housing 5I of the control valve. The arrangement may be suchthat the valves within the housing 5I may be closed, or so nearly closedas to create considerable resistance to movement of the fluidtherethrough and thus operate as an effective brake upon the reel 44. Asshown in Figure 5, the valves 52 within the housing 5I may be of thebalanced type so that movement of iluid through the housing 5I will nottend to either seat or unseat the same. The valves 52 may be mountedupon a stem 53 and controlled by means of a spring 54 the tension inwhich may be adjustable as by means of the adjusting nut 55. The spring54 bears upon a plate 53' integrally secured to the valve stem 53. 'I'hestem passes through suitable stuiling boxes 56 and 51 and terminates atits lower end in a piston 58 within a cylinder 59 connected by means ofa flexible tubing 60 to a tension responsive device 6I carried by theframe 62 of the measuring apparatus.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the measuring apparatus is similar to thatmentioned above in connection with Figures l and 2 and is also similarto that described in the Halliburton Patent -trol valve 11.

1,692,037 mentioned above, except that means is provided for causing amember thereon to move relative to the frame 62 in accordance with thetension in the line I5 as it passes through the frame 62 from the reel44 into the well.

'I'hus the measuring frame 62 is supported by` means of arms 63 pivotedupon a shaft 64 connected to the post 65 upon-which the reel 44 ismounted. One of the arms 63 may be provided,

with a balancing weight 66 which may be adjusted if desired. Themeasuring wheel itself is shown at 61 and may be the same as thatdescribed in the Halliburton patent mentioned and provided with asuitable counter 68 for indicating how much line is removed from thereel.

In addition to the measuring wheel 61, the frame 62 carries an idlerpulley 69. Both the measuring wheel 61 and the idler pulley 69 may beprovided with suitable rollers 16 which hold the line in proper contacttherewith.

Between the measuring wheel 61 and the idler pulley 69 a tensionresponsive wheel l'l is mounted. This wheel is connected through asuitable yoke 12 to a piston rod 13 which carries a suitable piston 14mounted within a cylinder 15 to which the flexible tubing 60 referred toabove is connected.

It will thus be seen that the arrangement isV such that the spring 54 inthe control valve housing 5| (see Figure 5) transmits pressure throughiiuid Within the cylinders 59 and 15 and the conduit 63 in such 'a wayas to normally urge the piston 14 upwardly, thus tending to place a bendwithin the measuring line l5 at the point of contact of the tensionresponsive wheel 1I. As the tension in the measuring line increases theline adjacent the wheel 'Il tends to straighten out,

`causing the piston 14 to move downwardly and thus causing the valves 52to open wider and cause the load upon the gear pump 41 to diminish, thuspermitting the reel 44 to rotate faster.

In addition to the parts mentioned above, a bypass conduit 1'6 may beconnected around the pump t1 and this by-pass is provided with a con- Itis also preferable toprovide a surge tank somewhere within the system,and such a tank is illustrated at 18.

Thus it will be seen that the operation of the arrangement of Figures 3,4 and 5 is similar to that of the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2.If desired, the arrangement may be so adjusted that the valves 52 remainclosed until a predetermined pressure is exerted upon the wheel 1l. Thismay be accomplished by pre-loading the spring 54 as by turning the nut55I downwardly until a predetermined tension is placed therein whichwill have to be overcome before the valve stem 53 can move or bysubstituting a weight for the spring 54 or by otherwise suitably loadingthe valve stem 53.

In both embodiments of the invention shown, the same means isillustratedfor latching the measuring line to a. cementing plug. It is within thepurview of the invention to connect the line to the plug by means otherthan that shown, although the apparatus is not primarily designed foruse except where some means is provided for connecting the line to theplug. It is within the purview of the invention, however, to merelyprovide a connecting link between the lower end of the line and the plugwhich would have a predetermined parting strength so that when it isdesired to disconnect the line from the plug all that will be necessarywill be to prevent the reel from rotating and exert pump pressure uponthe plug until this link parts. Various other devices could be used forconnecting the measuring line to the plug.

While only two embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it is obvious that various changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus adapted for use in the cementing of an oil well or the likeincluding a plug adapted to be pumped into the well with a batch of uidcement, a measuring line connected to the plug, and automatic means forfeeding the line into the well as the plug moves downwardly therein,said automatic means having a brake cooperating with the line andadapted, when set, to retard movement of the line and an arrangement foroperating the brake to release the same when the line is subjected to apredetermined tension due to pressure exerted on said plug.

2. Apparatus adapted for use in the cementing of an oil well or the likeincluding a plug adapted to be pumped into the well with a batch offluid cement, a measuring line connected to the plug, and automaticmeans for feeding the line into the well as the plug moves downwardlytherein, vsaid automatic means including a brake, lever mechanism forsetting or releasing the brake, and an arrangement for holding the levermechanism against movement and hold the brake in set position exceptwhen the plug is moving.

3. Apparatus adapted for use in the cementing of an oil well or the likeincluding a plug adapted to be pumped into the well with a batch offluid cement, a measuring line connected to the plug, and automaticmeans for feeding the line into the well as the plug moves downwardlytherein, said automatic means including a fluid pump and means forcontrolling the resistance to movement of the pump in response totension existing in said measuring line.

4. Apparatus adapted for use in measuring depth in an oil Well or thelike comprising, in combination, a reel, a measuring line spooledthereon, a device for indicating the amount of line unspooled from thereel, a brake for controlling rotative movement of the reel andautomatic mechanism for operating said brake, said mechanism causingtheY brake to set when less than a predetermined tension vexists in saidmeasuring line and causing the brake to release when more than apredetermined tension exists in said measuring line. y 5. Apparatusadapted for use in measuring depth in an oil well or the likecomprising, in combination, a reel, a measuring line spooled thereon, adevice for indicating the amount of line unspooled from. the reel, abrake for controlling rotative movement of the reel and mechanism foroperating said brake to set or release the same, said mechanism beingoperative automatically to diminish the setting pressure on the brake inresponse to increased tension in the measuring line and automatically toincrease the setting pressure on the brake in response to decreasedtension in the measuring line.

6. Apparatus adapted for use in measuring depth in an oil well or thelike comprising, in combination, a reel, a measuring lineI spooledthereon, a device for indicating the amount of line unspooled from the`reeLa brake for controlling rotative movement of the reel and mechanismfor operating said brake, said mechanism including a pulley engagingsaid line, a lever connected to said brake and pulley and means forholding said lever against movement until a predetermined tension isexerted in said measuring line. f

7. Apparatus adapted for use in measuring depth in an oil Well or thelike comprising, in combination, a reel, a measuring line spooledthereon, a device for indicating the amount of line unspooled from thereel, a brake for controlling rotative movement of the reel andmechanism for operating said brake, said mechanism including a pumpconnected to said reel, a control valve, fluid conduits connecting Saidcontrol valve to said pump and an arrangement operable in response tovariations in tension in said measuring line for controlling theposition of said control valve.

8. Apparatus adapted for use in measuring depth in an oil well or the.like comprising, in combination, a reel, a measuring line spooledthereon, a device for indicating the amount of line unspooled from thereel, a brake for controlling rotative movement oi.' the reel andmechanism for operating said brake, said mechanism including a pumpconnected to said reel, a control valve, fluid conduits connecting saidcontrol valve to said pump and an arrangement operable in response tovariations in tension in said measuring line for controlling theposition of said control valve, said arrangement including a wheel andmeans for suspending the wheel for free movement with movement of saidmeasuring line.

KENNETH BOLTON. JOHN E. WEILER.

